The Canadian government, and Hamid Ghassemi-Shall’s family, are in a race against time to save the Toronto shoe salesman from execution in Iran.

“I am very glad the Prime Minister has spoken out on this dreadful situation,” said his wife, Antonella Mega. “It is an indication that Canada will not (just) stand by.”

Mega learned of her husband’s imminent execution Sunday during a phone call with Ghassemi-Shall, who has been in Evin Prison since he was arrested on espionage charges in May 2008 during a visit to his elderly mother. Now, an official had told him that he was awaiting an “order” from the Tehran prosecutor.

Ghassemi-Shall was condemned to death in 2009, but had hoped for a review of the sentence, which followed a trial in which he was allowed no defence.

During a trip to Chile on Monday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that Ottawa was “working with international partners” to gain clemency for Ghassemi-Shall, and that “the whole world will be watching and they will cast judgment if terrible and inappropriate things are done in this case.”

It was the strongest warning yet from Ottawa.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who also has called for Ghassemi-Shall’s release, met Tuesday with Germany’s foreign minister Guido Westerwelle in Berlin, where he discussed human rights in Iran, as well as Tehran’s suspected nuclear ambitions.

Mega talked with Canadian officials in Ottawa on Monday, and said they understood the urgency of the situation.